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Yep, this blog is only a few measly weeks old and I’ve already got to take a freaking break. A friend is having a minor emergency in the Kuiper belt… I told him he should have had his force field checked before he headed out!

Way back in July (yes, it’s been a while since I’ve posted) I mentioned a news story about some Bigfoot trackers who claimed to have a body. They were going to reveal it to the public on September 1st. Well, they’ve jumped the gun and are holding a press conference on Friday August 15th instead.

The silly folks at BigfootTracker.com have joined forces with SearchingForBigfoot.com, arguably two of the ugliest websites on the internet. A website’s ugliness, of course, has nothing to do with the validity of its content. But sheesh! Background music has been a turn-off since 1995, guys!

So what are the odds they have an actual Bigfoot corpse? Well…

How to be a successful pseudoscientist:

Lesson Number One, kids– If you want to gain quick and easy publicity, and you don’t care to go through the trouble of having your claims scrutinized by that nasty peer review process, hold a press conference! The more outrageous the claim, the better!

This strategy is especially useful if you have no reputation to uphold (i.e., you are not a scientist) and you have something to sell (e.g., books, videos, and Bigfoot hunting expeditions). Sure, you may get shot down by the scientific community in the long run (like those Archaeoraptor folks back in the 90’s) but who cares? Cuz the scientific community won’t hold a press conference to shoot you down, they’ll just publish it in some obscure little journal that nobody will ever read. The public will only see your wild claims! Bigfoot corpse! DNA evidence! That’s what they’ll remember!!

Yeah, this is why we can pretty safely dismiss any extraordinary scientific claims that are made via press conference. Real science is given a chance to fail first. Real science allows itself to be poked and prodded. Real science asks questions. Real science happens in peer reviewed journals, not in press conferences.